Charles Hopkins
Charles Hopkins (?1664-1700?) was an English poet and playwright . Life Hopkins was the elder son of Ezekiel Hopkins of Devonshire, bishop of Londonderry; and the older brother of poet John Hopkins. He was born at Exeter and was taken early to Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and afterwards at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he earned a B.A. in 1688.Bullen, 333. Returning to Ireland, he engaged in military service. He subsequently settled in England, and gained some credit as a writer of poems and plays. His amiability endeared him to his friends, among whom were Dryden, William CongreveCongreve, Dorset, Southern, and Wycherley. Dryden, in a letter to Mrs. Steward (7 Nov. 1699), described him as "a poet who writes good verses without knowing how or why; I mean, he writes naturally well, without art or learning or good sense." Giles Jacob says that he might have made a fortune in any scene of life, but that he was always more ready to serve others than to look after his own interests. By excess of hard drinking "and a too passionate fondness for the fair sex he died a martyr to the cause, in the thirty-sixth year of his age,"Giles Jacob,Poetical Register. Writing Hopkins is the author of 1. Epistolary Poems, on several Occasions: With several of the Choicest Stories of Ovid's Metamorphoses and Tibullus's Elegies, London, 1694, 8vo, dedicated to Anthony Hammond. One of the epistles is addressed to Dorset; another to Walter Moyle. 2. The History of Love. A Poem: in a letter to a Lady, London, 1695, 8vo, dedicated to the Duchess of Grafton; translations from Ovid's Metamorphoses’ and Heroides. 3. The Art of Love: In two Books dedicated to the ladies, London, 8vo, a paraphrase of portions of Ovid's Ars Amatoria. 4. Whitehall; or the Court of England: A poem, Dublin, 1698, 4to, dedicated to the Duchess of Ormonde; reprinted in Dryden's Miscellany Poems under the title of The Court Prospect. Hopkins was also the author of three tragedies, performed at Lincoln's Inn Fields: 5. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, 1695, 4to, to which Congreve contributed a prologue. 6. Boadicea, Queen of Britain, 1697, 4to. 7. Friendship Improved, or the Female Warrior, 1697, 4to. Before Friendship Improved there is a dedicatory epistle, written from Londonderry (to Edward Coke of Norfolk), in which the author refers to his failing health: ‘My Muse is confined at present to a weak and sickly tenement; and the winter season will go near to overbear her, together with her household.’ In Nichols's ‘Collection of Poems’ are preserved some verses written by Hopkins ‘about an hour before his death.’ Publications Poetry *''Epistolary Poems, on Several Occasions''. London: R.E., for Jacob Tonson, 1694. *''White-hall; or, The court of England: A poem''. Dublin: Andrew Crook for William Norman, 1698. **published in UK as The Court-prospect: A poem. London: John Nutt, 1699. *''A Satyr against Confinement''. London: A. Baldwin, 1701; London: The Booksellers of London and Westminster, 1710.A different 1710 edition of A Satyr against Confinement attributes it to John Hopkins. Plays *''Pyrrhus, King of Epirus: A tragedy''. London: Samuel Briscoe / Peter Buck / Daniel Dring, 1695. *''Neglected Virtue; or, The unhappy conqueror: A play''. London: Henry Rhodes / Richard Parker / Sam. Briscoe, 1696. *''Boadicea, Queen of Britain: A tragedy''. London: Jacob Tonson, 1697. *''Friendship Improv'd; or, The female warrior: A tragedy''. London: Jacob Tonson, 1700. Non-fiction *''A letter to A.H. Esq.: Concerning the stage''. London: A. Baldwin, 1698 **also published with Richard Willis, Occasional Paper No. IX (1698). Los Angeles: Augustan Reprint Society, 1946. Translated *Ovid, The History of Love: A poem, in a letter to a lady. London: J. Dawks, for Jacob Tonson, 1695. *Ovid, The Art of Love: In two books, written to both men and ladies: A new poem. London: Joseph Wild, 1700 **revised & expanded as The Art of Love: In two books, dedicated to the ladies: A poem. London: R. Wellington, 1704 **also published with Gabriel Joseph de Lavergne Guilleragues, Five Love-letters, from a Nun to a Cavalier; with the cavalier's answers. London: M.W., for W. Meadows, 1716. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Charles Hopkins, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 14,2016. See also *List of British poets *List of English-language playwrights References * . Wikisource, Web, July 14, 2016. Notes External links ;About * Hopkins, Charles